We live in a world of conflict. While many choose to ignore it, Mstyslav Chernov is shining a light on it.

The Ukrainian Pulitzer Prize-winning video journalist has risked his life to report on tragedy. Working with The Associated Press, he has firsthand accounts of the civil war in Syria and the Battle of Mosul in Iraq. In his home country, he’s risked everything to report on the Revolution of Dignity, the war in Donbas, the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, and Russia’s invasion.

The Russian invasion is documented in 20 Days in Mariupol, which chronicles himself, photographer Evgeniy Maloletka, and field producer Vasilisa Stepanenko trapped in the Ukrainian city as Russian troops enter.

The film was recently nominated for an Academy Award in the Documentary Feature Film category.

Harrowing footage shows the initial shelling of the city, followed by residential areas being struck, leading to mass casualties.

“These were the first days of a full-scale invasion,” Chernov told Whatzup in a phone interview from Europe. “That was a moment when Russia said they were not targeting civilian population, they are not targeting civilian infrastructure. What we saw was the opposite. What we recorded was the opposite.

“It felt incredibly important to show this to the world. And people kept telling us the same thing: the doctors, volunteers, and just people we would meet. They kept telling us, ‘You have to show this.’”

Tale of heartbreak, destruction

The documentary opens on Feb. 24, 2022, when the three arrive on what appears to be a normal rainy day in Mariupol. Chernov narrates, “Someone once told me, wars don’t start with explosions. They start with silence.”

An hour after they arrive, a bomb hits the outskirts of the city, the first step in Russia’s imminent takeover of the port city, a military base with anti-aircraft systems is the target.

“It’s important to remember that Mariupol for eight years to that point was a front-line city,” Chernov said about the appearance of people going about their everyday lives as an attack was at their front door. “It was 15 kilometers from the occupied territories where Russia had their forces already. The fight was going on for years and you could always hear the front line from the outskirts of the city.

“These people lived in a war zone for many years. It became kind of a normality for them, although war cannot be normal. Then, there were conflicting messages from international partners, the Ukrainian government as to whether people should evacuate or stay. Russia was also very swift. No one expected them to be so quick and breaking through the defenses on the south. The south-end frontline collapsed, and the city got surrounded much quicker than many expected.”

After hitting the military site, bombs soon began hitting residential areas. There is a scene with a woman pleading with the crew about what she should do, as her son is at work and she’s alone and afraid. Chernov tells her to return home to her basement, “They don’t shoot at civilians.”

That illusion was soon shattered as shells hit the neighborhood an hour later.

 “It was not clear how (Russia) would proceed with the siege and the attack on the city,” Chernov said in the phone call. “We all hoped for the best and kind of a reasonable attempt to not target the civilian population, the civilian infrastructure. That was not the case.”

Soon, electricity and communication with the outside world are lost. Families are shown huddled in makeshift shelters. Residents walk with their belongings along the roadside. Hospitals are overrun with patients, and soon run out of supplies as they lose electricity. They are soon moving the deceased to basements, and eventually mass graves.

In the hospitals, Chernov records life-saving attempts on children, with distraught doctors urging him to continue filming.

“All those moments were so important, but I didn’t realize how important those shots were,” he said. “I had an impression that this was happening all across Ukraine. All journalists were filming that, and in fact, they were. It’s the people that we met, the police officer, the military, and doctors, and just regular residents that kept telling us, ‘This is important. You have to keep filming. You have to make sure the world sees that.’ That gave me a sense of the importance.

“And, of course, when Russian propaganda started to attack us, calling us information terrorists. Saying everything we filmed was fake, that was a good indicator that we were doing something important. If that causes so much attention from Russia, that means this is an important event and these shots are making a difference.”

Sharing footage

Getting the information out to their editors at the AP was important, as it would then be shared with news organizations to show what was occurring on the ground. However, as communications were knocked out, they were forced into dangerous situations.

“We could still speak with our editors through the satellite phone, which was very helpful, but you can only speak, you can’t send anything,” Chernov said. “It’s just a text, still enough to keep reporting and make security assessments, although it is dangerous to do that because satellite signal could be tracked.”

They were able to find one area in the city where they could access the internet, but it too had dangers.

“There, we were sitting for hours, hiding from bombs under the concrete stairs,” he said. “Splitting videos into 10-second clips and trying to send them over. At least something. Then you shoot for the whole day, then have to pick a minute. It’s very hard to decide what you are sending.”

Chernov said getting the images out, which included the bombing of a maternity ward, played a role in Russia allowing an exit from the city. After crossing numerous checkpoints with the footage hidden in the car, the AP team was able to get out of Mariupol after 20 days.

Out of the city, Chernov had plenty of footage that was not used by news outlets, leading him to write and direct 20 Days in Mariupol.

“When we left the city — broke out of the siege and took everything with us, all this footage and photos, I had about 30 hours of video,” he said. “Of course, I knew so much of that wasn’t published and I remember how quickly people forget what is on the news. People just move on and that is normal. Every day, there is something new. Even important stories, they get forgotten. I felt I owed it to the people of Mariupol to do more. The film was a way to do it. To tell the story on a bigger scale and publish all the footage that I couldn’t publish when I was inside the footage.”

Time passes

20 Days in Mariupol was released on PBS’ Frontline on Nov. 21, 2023. During the time between his days in Mariupol and the film’s release, plenty has changed in the region.

“Since then, I feel there’s been a lot of meaning added to it,” he said of the film. “At that point it felt important and urgent to tell the story of Mariupol and its people and to make sure it was not going to be forgotten. Now, it feels like the story of Mariupol represents all the other cities that since then have been destroyed by Russian bombs in Ukraine; and there are many. There is Bakhmut. There is Marinka. There is Avdiivka being bombed now. There is Soledar and Vuhledar and Volnovakha. I could go on and on with the list.

“So, it does stand for something more than just Mariupol. It stands for all those cities in Ukraine and shows it’s still not over, even if you don’t see it much on the news.”

When watching the documentary, it can be easy to think that’s something happening across the globe, which it is. However, things can change in a hurry.

“Let’s be frank, Russia is not at war with Ukraine anymore,” Chernov said. “They state openly that they are at war with the U.S. and Europe. Many people still don’t really notice that. I really hope that seeing what happened in Mariupol puts into perspective what could happen to any city Russia could attack if Ukraine should collapse.”

Remaining neutral as an international journalist, Chernov closed by saying he would not tell anyone how to feel or what to do. However, he does have a message.

“The worst enemy that modern society has right now is indifference,” he said. “That indifference empowers people who bring destruction to our world. If 20 Days in Mariupol brings people out of that indifference, that is a lot. If they go and they vote for someone or support (a non-governmental organization) or they pass on information about what is happening, that is a lot. But then, it’s up to every single person as to how much they actually want to do.”